


A Second Chance

by phenomenology



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3837733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phenomenology/pseuds/phenomenology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanan and Hera adopted a baby they found three months ago on Lothal. Hera decides to take a break and goes into town, leaving Kanan with the baby and quite a surprise. (baby!Ezra)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [candiedrhododendrons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/candiedrhododendrons/gifts).



> I would like to take this moment to say that this is again candiedrhododendrons' fault. She requested a baby!Ezra and Kanan shenanigans AU so this is what happened. Enjoy!

“I can’t believe she left me alone. I don’t even know what I’m doing. What _is_ half of this stuff?” Kanan glanced down at the bowl of chopped food that he had prepared, muttering as he did. Meanwhile, thirteen-month-old Ezra sat securely in his booster by the table, babbling happily in his high-pitched baby voice. A glance over his shoulder revealed to Kanan that Ezra was staring at him expectantly with large, bright blue eyes, flapping his arms as babies do and sputtering with laughter.

Smiling despite his frustration, Kanan scooped up the bowl of food and walked over towards the chattering infant. He set the bowl down in front of Ezra, ruffling the fuzz atop his kid’s head with affection.

“Dig in, kiddo,” Kanan chuckled, sitting back in the chair next to Ezra’s booster. Sighing heavily, Kanan reclined his head back against the wall behind him, dragging a hand over his face and pausing to scratch his chin.

Ever since Ezra had been brought aboard, it felt like Kanan and Hera had been in a never-ending cycle of sleepless nights, scattered mornings, and a mess of baby food followed by the smelly aftermath of said baby food. Kanan and Hera adored their adopted son with all of their beings; but the long nights and lack of sweet slumber were beginning to catch up to them. Just this afternoon, Hera had declared she needed to get off the ship and go shopping in the nearby market.

So naturally, she left Kanan behind with Ezra.

Kanan wanted nothing more than to take a long nap, to curl up in his bunk and catch up on a few hours of desperately needed rest. However, he knew that doing that and leaving a thirteen-month-old to his own devices would not end well. Nor would it gain him any favor in Hera’s eyes.

Ezra’s excited babbling and clapping drew Kanan out of his thoughts. Blinking away the sleep that had been sneaking up on him, Kanan rubbed at his eyes for a moment before attempting to focus on his son in front of him.

“What is it, kid?” Kanan mumbled out around a yawn. He knew that he was not going to be getting an answer any time soon from Ezra, but he liked talking to him anyway for some reason. Blinking and finally forcing his bleary, sleepy eyes to focus, Kanan felt his heart stop for a moment.

The bowl that Kanan had set down in front of Ezra a moment before was empty. But that was not what had startled Kanan to full attention. Said bowl was now hovering a good two meters in the air above them, twirling and spinning like some sort of oddly shaped, plastic dancer. Ezra’s small, chubby hands were raised towards it, following the bowl’s movements precisely; but Kanan guessed it was more than likely the _bowl_ was following _Ezra’s_ movements.

“Frak,” Kanan muttered under his breath. _And of course Hera wasn’t here for this._

Kanan and Hera had found Ezra abandoned on one of their recent visits to Lothal three months ago. The poor kid had been left near a dumpster, a pair of thin scars tracing along his cheek on one side. Kanan hadn’t said anything to Hera, but he was almost certain that the marks were made by a lightsaber’s blade. Despite the pair’s misgivings about bringing a child on board and into the middle of a growing rebellion, Hera had seemed unwilling to leave the kid behind. And honestly, Kanan hadn’t wanted to either.

Kanan figured that he should have seen this coming. Finding a child with lightsaber scars should have seemed obvious at the time. Of course Ezra was Force sensitive.

“Okay, kiddo. Put the bowl down, nice and easy,” Kanan said, glancing between Ezra and the bowl.

When the bowl didn’t move, Kanan stood on the chair he had previously been sitting on and plucked the bowl out of the air. Ezra made a distressed sound and waved his little hands in Kanan’s direction, his fingers curling and uncurling as he stared at the bowl.

“How about some more food, huh? You’re still hungry, I bet.”

Kanan walked back over to the counter and set the bowl aside as he grabbed some more of the food he had prepared earlier. As he began chopping, Kanan could hear Ezra babbling excitedly again from behind him. Kanan didn’t know what it was about this kid, but whenever his little delighted squeals could be heard, Kanan always seemed to smile.

“Hang on, kid. I’m almost finished,” Kanan said over his shoulder. As he finished chopping the food, Kanan reached for the bowl, only to find that it was not where he had left it. Looking around the counter and on the floor, Kanan couldn’t seem to find the bowl.

He turned to look at Ezra, who had stopped babbling, and found out the answer to both of his questions. The kid had stopped babbling because he was now happily gnawing on the rim of the plastic bowl that had been on the counter next to Kanan.

“How did you…?” Kanan wondered out loud. He hadn’t even noticed the bowl moving in his peripheral vision, let alone sensed it moving. This kid was either scary powerful, or Kanan was in need of a good night’s sleep more than he had anticipated.

With an exasperated sigh, Kanan walked over to Ezra’s chair and dumped the chopped food that he had had in his hands onto the little tray connected to Ezra’s booster chair. Wiping his hands briskly on the sides of his pants, Kanan huffed out a breath through his nose and sat down again, watching Ezra curiously.

The kid had put the bowl aside in favor of gnawing now on the food Kanan had prepared for him. Ezra’s bright baby blues sparkled happily, eliciting a small smile from Kanan’s otherwise confused expression.

When he and Hera had picked Ezra up and brought him aboard, Kanan hadn’t sensed the Force’s presence surrounding Ezra. And yet here they were, Kanan having just witnessed two incredible and seemingly impossible acts of Force usage for a thirteen month old.

Kanan wanted to take a blood sample to test the midichlorian count for Ezra, but he had to be careful since the process involved a needle to draw out the blood. Kanan really hoped that nothing dangerous involving an upset infant with Force sensitivity and a nearby needle would result in Kanan’s attempt. The ex-Jedi really didn’t feel like doing damage control so he wouldn’t have to incur Hera’s wrath.

“Uh! Uh!” Ezra cooed, drawing Kanan’s attention back towards the infant. Ezra had his arms raised above his head, the food gone and the bowl still sitting on the tray in front of the now squirming baby.

“Okay, you want up? Probably to crawl around and give me even more anxiety that you’ll somehow find the main control unit,” Kanan muttered to himself as he lifted Ezra up out of the booster and set him down gently on the floor of the ship’s kitchen. As Kanan straightened up to grab the bowl off the tray and wash it out, he spotted the splattered remains of multiple pieces of food Kanan had cut up on the wall opposite Ezra’s chair.

“Oh come on!” Kanan exclaimed, looking down at Ezra with frustration. “When did you even do that?”

Ezra simply stared back at Kanan and grinned before cooing, “Uh!” again before starting to crawl towards the chair Kanan had been sitting in. Kanan stared after Ezra with mild annoyance before sighing shortly through his nose and walking towards the messy wall.

It didn’t take very long to scrape off the chunks of food from the wall. The leftover stains from the food, which had obviously splattered upon impact, were easily wiped away with a wet rag, leaving no trace of the mess. Kanan was becoming short-tempered but he found that he couldn’t stay angry with an infant.

Kanan tossed the rag onto the counter as he wiped his brow and shook his head. This kid was starting to become more trouble than he was worth. Kanan really had to take a sample of Ezra’s blood to test for his midichlorian count.

“Okay, kid, it’s time for a test. We’re going to see how strong with the Force you are,” Kanan said, turning to walk over towards where Ezra was.

The only problem, Ezra was no longer by the chair where Kanan had left him. He wasn’t even on the floor actually. Kanan looked up with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation when he heard Ezra’s little coo of “Uh!” from about a foot above his head.

“You have _got_ to be kidding me,” Kanan said in a defeated and exhausted voice. “This isn’t even fair anymore!”

Grabbing the nearby chair, Kanan mounted the seat and reached up to pluck the floating baby out of the air and held Ezra firmly against his chest as he stepped off the chair. Kanan walked quickly back to his cabin to pull out the old comlink that he still possessed from his time at the Temple on Coruscant. Gently, Kanan took a little sample of Ezra’s blood, reassuring the infant that he was okay as he did. Ezra protested only a little and surprisingly didn’t squirm around very much, to Kanan’s relief.

Still carrying Ezra, Kanan headed for the cockpit so the comlink could sync up with the _Ghost's_ computer, which fortunately was programmed to calculate for midichlorians. Kanan watched the screen for a moment as the screen visibly did the calculation. It soon displayed that Ezra did indeed have a very high affinity with the Force, a little more than 7,000 per cell. Kanan sighed and put the comlink to the side, making a mental note to show Hera later. Returning to his cabin, Kanan laid down in his bunk, situating Ezra on his stomach so the kid was on top of his chest and facing him.

“You’re a lot more trouble than you’re worth, you know that kid?” Kanan mumbled, staring at Ezra as the tiny boy stared back at him. Ezra’s eyes squeezed shut as his mouth stretched open in a toothless yawn.

Kanan chuckled and ruffled Ezra’s baby fuzz tenderly as the infant laid his head down on Kanan’s chest. “Yeah, you and me both, kid.”

As Kanan watched Ezra fall asleep, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe this was the universe's way of telling him that he had been given another chance. This Force sensitive infant had been delivered to Hera and him, giving Kanan the opportunity to raise Ezra through the ways of the Old Republic, through the ways of the Order before it had fallen. Here was this beautiful, fresh start to the way of life Kanan had forsaken so long ago. He and Hera would have to raise Ezra in a way that he would be able to survive in this time of rebellion, but that didn't mean he couldn't be raised as a Jedi as well.

Sighing, Kanan placed one hand on Ezra’s back, securing the baby’s placement on his chest. He started rubbing little circles with his thumb across the small width of Ezra’s back. The little boy’s breathing evened out, his back rising and falling with his breaths. Kanan yawned, smiling softly at the fuzzy top of Ezra's head as Kanan’s eyes started to drift shut as well, fatigue finally overcoming him.

* * *

Hera dumped her crate from the market onto the counter and gave a huff as she placed her hands on her hips. Glancing around, Hera realized that the ship was much quieter than when she had left it. As she began to wander through the ship, Hera wondered where Kanan and Ezra had gone off to.

“Kanan?” Hera called out, her voice echoing slightly throughout the quiet ship. Deciding to check Kanan’s cabin first, she activated the switch and the door slid open with a hiss.

“Kanan?” Hera called in a softer voice. Looking around, she covered her mouth with one hand and smiled into her fingers. Leaning against the doorframe, she chuckled softly to herself.

Kanan was passed out on his bunk, one hand underneath his head as a makeshift pillow as he lay sleeping on his back. His other hand was placed securely over Ezra’s back, holding the infant in place where he was stretched out on top of Kanan’s torso. The scene before Hera felt so domestic that she couldn’t help but smile. It was something that she had not felt since she was a little girl, the feeling of security and almost homeliness. It made her chest ache a little, a longing for a simpler life with her father and mother and siblings back on Ryloth. But now, Kanan and Ezra were her family.

Pushing herself off from the doorframe where she had been leaning, Hera entered Kanan’s cabin and stooped to place a light kiss on top of Ezra’s fuzzy head. She then did the same to Kanan, pressing her lips against his temple before straightening up and walking out of the cabin, allowing the door to slide shut behind her.


End file.
